To kill Kira.
It sounds strange, because it's what half the population of the Western world wanted for a long time, and what seemed for so long practically out of reach.
It's what took the deaths of hundreds and radical changes to security and investigative forces in several nations, and what L risked his life for.
Not to mention, it was supposed to already have happened long ago.
Really, it wouldn't be entirely selfish; many would argue that Kira should be dead. Few people have been more dangerous.
Few devices have been more horrific than the supposed Death Note.
But there is something else that Mello is very curious about, and that is speaking with Light—with the boy whose ability to reason is so great that he is kept alive despite the astounding magnitude of his crime.
The only suitable rival to L, and the only suitable counterpart to L.
Taking on this mission would be a very big deal with the guarantee of a heavy toll—but the temptation to meet Light is nearly too great, and ultimately Mello finds himself unable to give an answer.
"How much time do we have to decide?" Matt asks, green eyes gazing coolly across the room.
Silence.
"I'll give you until Monday," she says at last, and Mello makes a mental note to try not to screw Matt in the middle of the day then.
Over the next several days, Mello can't stop thinking about it. He watches L reading over his work, teacup in one hand and paper in the other, big eyes darting to and fro behind black hair, and Mello wonders if it really is true that L still speaks with him – not, of course, in the full sense of the word, but, somehow, they still communicate.
Does it hurt, Mello wonders, does it hurt that their entire bond is reduced to this, and what kind of bond did they really have to begin with—L wanted him dead, didn't he, L risked his very life for the purpose of sentencing Kira to death.
Is L satisfied with the way things are now? Would he rather that Kira was dead? Could that really hurt more than this—than working coolly and mechanically with the person you love, knowing he is tied and bound and infinitely restrained and—
"Mello is worried about something," comes L's quiet voice from behind the document in his hands.
Blue eyes dart in his direction and Mello studies L's face for several moments before answering. "It's nothing," he replies, because even though he knows that lying to L is useless, and L probably knows that he's thinking about Kira, asking L about Kira is also useless.
So, L does not elaborate, and, after he finishes reading the document, he places it on the table with a small grin. He begins unfolding his long legs from the chair and, stepping onto the floor, he gazes at Mello knowingly and, waving the document before him, he says,
"Would you mind if I kept this, I'd like to look it over again."
"Y—yeah, okay," Mello replies, finally remembering to stand up, as well, and he wonders when L communicated with Light last and what it was about.
Maybe it was even something that Mello helped L with.
Maybe, really, he should get to communicate with Light, too.
XXX
Mello and Matt agree.
Come Monday, they are again seated across from Misora in their living room, not having lifted a finger to tidy up in preparation for her arrival but this time, at least, presentable and mostly dressed.
She explains to them the details of how this is to be carried out, elaborating on the technology used in the secure cell.
The key, in essence, is the very device through which L and Light communicate. While it's fingerprint-enabled, because Kira is very heavily restrained, he does not initiate communication between them, and it comes only from L's side, which is encrypted and secure. Further, while Kira's fingerprint is required for pickup on that end, there must be someone else in the room to press his finger to the device for him, and to monitor communication therein.
Other than this assigned monitor, however, the room is locked and shut at this time to any other signals going out or in.
While communication is never initiated from within the cell, it is nevertheless technically possible to do this, and the transceiver plate cannot actually distinguish between a fingerprint coming or going. Therefore, if both prints were read simultaneously, there would exist a very brief interval for pickup before the signal actually arrived at L's end.
It is during that interval that they are to pick up from within the cell—using a copy of L's fingerprint.
The room would then lock and shut to any signals going in and out until communication was disabled.
It is then when they are to carry out the job.
At all times Kira is drugged with a mild concentration of sedatives, administered by intravenous cubital injection. To this they are to add a low dose of phenol, directly to the catheter tube, and no residue, no waste, no prints.
"Don't spend more than about an hour in there," she says, "or you'll begin to stir suspicion."
Her eyes dart to Matt's gloved hands. "Wear them at all times. Both of you. No prints."
And then, before Mello can respond, "You can watch; you can even talk with him. But don't touch."
She can tell that this part finds them both irritated.
"This is serious," she continues, "you have to leave without anyone knowing you were in there."
And finally, as if reading their minds, "and don't even think about trying to let him out somehow. He's very smart. He'll figure out who you are and he will kill you."
Mello and Matt stare at her in silence, both holding their breath; it sounds, Matt thinks, like she speaks from experience.
To be continued…